The old Greek adage “the fish rots from the head” is now being borne out on the Greek political and social scene. While life in Athens has never been what one could call tranquil, it is now more chaotic that ever as the private sector expresses its dissatisfaction with the government through numerous strikes while the socialist party continues down its tumultuous path towards the June elections.
Shrugging off responsibility for the scores of scandals in which the government is allegedly involved, the ruling PASOK party has repeatedly accused “foreign elements” of attempting to destabilize democracy in Greece. As a result, the country has plunged into confusion. And because the government is relatively more malleable during the pre-election period, numerous unions have staged strikes to gain wage increases and additional fringe benefits, which has increased the disorganization and inconvenience of daily life in Greece.
The latest chapter in this continuing saga began with an exclusive interview with George Koskotas, Greek banker/ publisher, by Time magazine in his cell in a Salem, Massachusetts prison. In the eight-page article, titled “The Looting of Greece”, Mr Koskotas said senior PASOK government officials had encouraged him to embezzle billions of drachmas from his private bank to fund personal and political activities by Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou and other party officials.
The cabinet was reshuffled for the 17th time
According to the magazine, more than 20 million dollars were paid to government officials and half a million dollars a week to Mr Papandreou himself for’his personal use. Koskotas said the revenues of state organizations such as the OTE, DEH and the Post Office were deposited in accounts at the Bank of Crete. Instead of earning the usual 15 percent interest, these accounts were paid from two to three percent while the remainder was siphoned off by Mr Koskotas. In addition, he claimed, the government had arranged for the Bank of Crete to avoid regular audits, giving Mr Koskotas free reign to take suitcases stuffed with 5000-drachma notes from the bank’s vaults.
Mr Koskotas told Time that the funding covered projects such as socialist party campaigns, the establishment of a pro-government publishing group, Mrs Papandreou’s alleged $100 million divorce settlement and a public relations campaign to improve the image of the premier’s 35-year-old ‘companion’, Dimitra Liani.
In a special nationwide broadcast, Mr Papandreou denied all the allegations, saying that Time magazine was “part of the American establishment”. He also said he planned to sue the magazine for libel and defamation both in Greece and the US.
Mr Koskotas said senior PASOK offi-cials had encouraged him to embezzle billions
“I feel the need to make clear to all concerned that there is not a trace of truth in all the mud that is being slung at me from all directions,” he said. “But I know that this campaign will not stop until the elections in June, for its ultimate goal is to overthrow me, to stop the popular movement towards social justice and independence, and finally to restore a regime of dependency and subjugation.”
The premier had charged earlier that American intelligence agents were fanning the scandal to topple his gov-ernment and that Mr Koskotas was being used as a “hostage” by the US government. The US State Department denied claims that CIA agents were involved. The Greek government, however, said the State Department’s denials “did not convince the Greek people” and added that “we have strong reservations as to whether (the) State Department statement corresponds to the truth.”
The exchange followed testimony by a man called Tom Mailis who claimed that he, Mr Koskotas and his wife, Kathy, and the two pilots who helped the fugitive banker flee to South America and then to the US, had all worked together as CIA agents.
Mr Papandreou’s charges indicate that a strong tone of anti-Americanism is likely to enter the pre-election race. PASOK has already announced a number of rallies and events designed to counter what it describes as an alliance between the opposition conservative party and the US government to bring down Mr Papandreou. Party officials and newspapers have said the campaign is a reaction to Mr Papandreou’s anti-Western and pro-Arab policies.
The drama continued when Con-stantine Mitsotakis, conservative opposition leader, placed a motion of censure before parliament, which forced a vote of confidence. Three days of stormy parliamentary debate preceded the vote, highlighted by further PASOK allegations of US and Western media involvement in fanning the existing scandals. Mr Papandreou won the vote, 155 to 123. That outcome, however, does not put an end to the government crisis, but it almost ensures that the socialists will be able to hold on to power until the scheduled June elections. Three PASOk deputies who abstained from the vote were kicked out of the socialist party.
The day after the vote, the blood-letting began. The cabinet was reshuffled for the 17th time. Also, in an apparent attempt to distance the highest level of the party from the scandal, Deputy Prime Minister Agamemnon Koutsoyiorgas resigned in the wake of persisting allegations that he was at the center of the financial scandal. The most serious allegation against him was made by Mr Koskotas in the Time interview. He said that Mr Koutsoyiorgas had been paid $2 million for putting legislation through parliament that in effect prohibited audits of the Bank of Crete.
Constantine Mitsotakis said the reshuffle was “a desperate, but unconvincing attempt to postpone the government’s pending collapse.”
Among those ministers removed was Minister of Justice Vassilis Rotis. Apart from being accused of failing to take action over the financial scandal, he had also been strongly criticized by Western governments for releasing a Palestinian terrorist wanted in connection with the Rome synagogue massacre of 1982. Minister of Public Order George Petsos and Minister of Commerce Nikos Akritides were removed as both were alleged to have contacts with Mr Koskotas.
Mr Papandreou, however, did not remove his son George as Minister of Education, despite mounting evidence that he, too, had close ties with the banker.
Mr Koskotas’ latest claim was that Miss Liani received large-scale commissions for the purchase of aircraft by Olympic Airways.
While New Democracy charged that Mr Koutsoyiorgas was being used as a scapegoat, Mr Papandreou said that he was “particularly grieved by the vulgar and unjust accusations” that had been made against his deputy premier. So far a total of four cabinet members and four parliamentary deputies have been dismissed or have resigned as a result of the scandal, while several senior government appointees have been jailed.
